'It saved me': Code purple ends in Asheville. What comes next for shelter residents?
ASHEVILLE - In the last three months, the Fellowship Hall has been transformed.
The church basement of Trinity United Methodist Church in West Asheville has served as a temporary home for dozens since January. There are mattresses on the floor in neatly delineated sleeping spaces and belongings heaped in duffels and trash bags.
There's artwork on the walls, a crate in the corner with a sleeping dog named Bear, and a ring of people holding hands — saying a prayer together over a communal hot dinner for the last time.
March 31 marked the final day of Code Purple, an emergency shelter option called when temperatures are expected to drop below 32 degrees. With city shelter options limited, and barriers to entry for some, these high-access beds were often the only sanctuary for those desperate to get out of the cold.
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For the last several weeks, both ABCCM's Costello House and Trinity United Methodist Church have opened nightly, not just when temperatures dipped.
On April 1, shelter residents will leave for the last time this season.
For some, transitional housing is on the horizon. For others, there is a spare bedroom in a friend's house, shelter space, detox programs or adult assisted living.
But for many, the end of emergency shelter in Asheville means they are back on the street, struggling to find camping space or somewhere to lay a sleeping bag.
Dustin Mailman, associate pastor at Trinity, said church staff and volunteers have connected a majority of their shelter residents to transitional housing, shelters or programs, but by the morning, he anticipated about five people would be looking for a place to pitch a tent.
“I’m feeling pretty devastated,” Mailman said March 31. It's been an incredible experience, he added, creating community and family, but looking ahead, "there's a lot of unknowns."
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“It’s just clear the kind of gap we were filling, and I’m just overwhelmingly reminded today as folks are having to leave."
With capacity for about 20 people, the church's Fellowship Hall served as shelter for "the most vulnerable members of an already marginalized community," those facing barriers to entry elsewhere — including couples, transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals, and people with service dogs and pets.
City staff anticipate a rise in the numbers of unsheltered individuals in January's Point in Time count, data that will be released in late April.
The 2021 Point in Time count identified 527 people experiencing homelessness in Asheville, 116 of which were unsheltered.
Nationally, the Asheville metropolitan area's cost of living is 106% of the average, according to the Council for Community and Economic Research data, but with wages that are 84% the national average.
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"They're angels in our life. A new family," said Khristie Glenn, 39, who had been staying at the shelter with her fiancé, Jeffery Glenn, 50, for about a month.
They were unable to stay at ABCCM's Costello House as a couple, and found their way to Trinity.
“Ever since I’ve been here," she said, "I’ve felt more at ease.”
But the Glenns were unable to secure a solution before Code Purple's deadline, and said Mailman is helping them get a tent. They will be camping again, she said. Khristie is pregnant with twins, and due in five months.
'Lifesaving'
Emily Ball, the city's homeless services system performance lead, said ultimately, Code Purple ending will decrease shelter capacity in the city, a shift exacerbated by the East Asheville Ramada Inn's closure that same day.
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Tim McElyea, director of homeless services at ABCCM, said this follows the usual trends — unsheltered homelessness tends to increase in warmer months, as emergency shelter options end and the city sees an increase in its transient unhoused population.
A 50-bed facility, ABCCM's Costello House averaged about 35 people a night in March, with highs in January averaging 37, but reaching capacity on several nights. On the coldest days, and the larger snow events, the shelter hit capacity.
"It's definitely lifesaving," McElyea said of Code Purple, which he called a "necessary and vital" service.
The third and final Code Purple emergency shelter this year was run by the Salvation Army, offering about eight beds for women and children. Though Trinity and ABCCM transitioned to the winter shelter model, Salvation Army continued to offer shelter only on nights Code Purple was called.
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Evelyne Ball, social service director with The Salvation Army of Buncombe County, said the season ends March 31 for them, as well.
She said the shelter served around eight women a night, and hopes "energy moves forward and continues to the next (Code Purple) season."
The last several months went well, she said, and allowed Salvation Army to offer several women shelter in its permanent program.
Trinity was a new Code Purple option this year, and officially joined the effort Jan. 4.
But Trinity's entrance into the Code Purple scene first came in November, when Code Purple nights were being called with no shelter options available.
Trinity and other community partners rallied and offered six nights of temporary emergency shelter during the week of Thanksgiving.
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The way forward
Melanie Robertson, one of Trinity's organizers, said it was more than a shelter. They became a family.
"It's quite an emotional day," Robertson said. "It has been all week ... the joy is that we’ve been able to help folks find the next step, help folks get where they're going. It’s not just goodbye."
She said they plan on resuming community meals May 4, and will continue monthly meetings of the Winter Shelter Steering Committee, a group dedicated to addressing homelessness in Asheville.
"It saved me," said Hannah Burnett, who has been staying at Trinity for about three weeks with her husband and 2-year-old daughter. As a married couple with a child, she said it's nearly impossible to find a shelter that accepts families without splitting them up.
Burnett is in recovery, and said Trinity connected her with resources, community and support groups to aid with sobriety.
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She and her husband have found work, and are headed to the Salvation Army, where Burnett and her daughter will stay together in a family room, with her husband in the men's unit.
Even being in the same building, she said, is a relief. There she hopes for them to get back on their feet and find a place to rent.
'She's got me'
Tonya Clark, 36, and Alecia Dalton, 32, haven't been quite as lucky.
They've only been at Trinity two nights, and are going to be camping again come April 1.
It's Clark's third time finding herself without shelter, but it's only Dalton's first.
"She was scared," Clark said, "until I said, it's OK. She's got me."
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Jeffery Glenn, sitting across the table, reached over. "Now you've got us," he said.
Clark wished that a shelter like Trinity had funds to stay open year-round, and said housing is nearly impossible to navigate, and an eviction put her back on the street.
It was a need that Mailman echoed — a year-round shelter for those with pets, families and women. Somewhere people can stay long enough to find a sense of stability, and take the next step.
ABCCM kicks off 'recovery living program'
Though Costello House's winter shelter offering ends this week, McElyea said it's not the end for the shelter's supportive services.
ABCCM is kicking-off a new "recovery living program" in the Costello House, he said, a transitional housing program with capacity for about 40 to 50 individuals, targeting civilian men.
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ABCCM already operates up to 100 beds of transitional housing for homeless women, mothers with children and veterans in its Transformation Village.
It also offers transitional and permanent supportive housing for veterans through its Veterans Restoration Quarters.
He expects this new program will have overlap with many of the individuals currently supported by Code Purple, and said ABCCM is in the process of identifying participants.
“If you’re willing to meet us halfway, we’re definitely going to be in it with you together," McElyea said. “We want to give them a safe and impactful program there that they can fall back to, and support their recovery while helping them reintegrate back into society."
Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Code purple ends. What comes next for shelter residents?
